Contents
Vol 336, Issue 6082
Contents
This Week in Science
Editorial
Editors' Choice
Podcasts
- Science Podcast
The show includes Mayan astronomical tables from the 9th century, cosmic insights from Vesta, a fossilized forest in China, and more.
Products & Materials
- New Products
A weekly roundup of information on newly offered instrumentation, apparatus, and laboratory materials of potential interest to researchers.
News of the Week
- Around the World
In science news around the world this week, attorneys sought to prevent 9000-year-old bones from being handed over to American Indians; a senior U.S. health official disputed charges that the government tried to prearrange an advisory panel's recommendation to publish two studies that describe how to make the H5N1 avian influenza virus transmissible in mammals; the Philippines National Academy of Science and Technology blasted Greenpeace for trying to stop field trials of a genetically modified eggplant; a pilot project will share abandoned drugs with academic researchers so that they can look for new uses; a new study of the links between atmospheric chemistry and climate change kicked off; the British government has enlisted the help of Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales to figure out how to make research information more easily accessible; and a tobacco research project nominated for a prestigious Chinese science prize has been withdrawn from further consideration.
- Random Sample
Students from five schools in rural Montana won a $15,000 prize in the America's Home Education Energy Challenge. Deep inside a mountain cave in Dachstein, Austria, an international team of researchers showed off a new suit that simulates the challenges that await human visitors to Mars. And this week's numbers quantify signatures protesting the Discovery Channel's self-censorship of climate change issues, the percentage of current Earth-observing capacity that the United States will have by 2020, and the rate of premature births in the United States.
- Newsmakers
This week's Newsmakers are German Education and Research Minister Annette Schavan, who is facing allegations that she plagiarized parts of her dissertation, and Franco-Algerian particle physicist Adlène Hicheur, who received a 5-year prison sentence on terrorism charges.
Findings
News & Analysis
- Europe Picks Jupiter Probe; Runners-Up Vow to Press On
Last week, the European Space Agency announced that it had chosen a €1 billion satellite to study three icy moons of Jupiter as its next major science mission, scheduled to be launched in 2022.
- Death of California Researcher Spurs Investigation
Local and federal health agencies are investigating the death of Richard Din, a 25-year-old research associate at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Francisco, California.
- Venus's Rare Sun Crossing May Aid Search for Exoplanets
Early next month, skywatchers will get their second—and final—chance this century to observe a rare mini-eclipse in which Venus crosses in front of the sun.
- Reprise of First Experiment Casts Doubt on Supersolid Helium
A second pair of physicists has found further evidence that solid helium doesn't flow—ironically, by tweaking the experiment that started the controversy in the first place.
News Focus
- Primeval Land Rises From the Ashes
A "vegetational Pompeii" buried in a coal deposit is shedding light on ecosystem structure and climate during the Permian period.
- Researchers Set Course To Blockade Ballast Invaders
As U.S. regulations loom, scientists are working to test new devices that can remove potentially invasive organisms from ships' ballast water.
- A Foul Problem
From mussels to barnacles to algae, studies suggest that "hull-fouling" organisms could pose an invasion threat that is as great as if not greater than that from ballast creatures, researchers say.
- With Novel Paint, Chemist Aims To Vanquish the Vinchuca
Spanish chemist Pilar Mateo invented a clever way to package insect-control agents in paint; after a decade of trying, she's persuaded Bolivia to give it a test.
Letters
Books et al.
- Recalling Space and Time
In a narrative format that combines experimental results, theory, and personal experience, Hasselmo discusses his quantitative model of the brain mechanisms for encoding and remembering our experiences.
- The Wind at Our Backs
Building on his interviews with people involved in the development of wind energy, Warburg chronicles the industry's growth and challenges.
Policy Forum
- ELSI 2.0 for Genomics and Society
We need an international infrastructure for the ethical, legal, and social implications of genomic research.
Perspectives
- FGF21 Takes a Fat Bite
A growth factor's varied effects on adipose tissue and thermogenesis may be attributable to its local and systemic actions.
- Understanding Earthquakes
Sophisticated numerical models can reproduce a wide range of seismic activity at the Parkfield segment of the San Andreas Fault.
- PARP-1 Activation—Bringing the Pieces Together
A model structure sheds light on how the PARP-1 protein is activated in DNA repair.
- Intertwining Electron Tunneling with Light
The tunneling of electrons through barriers can be controlled when photons are coupled to excited states of electrons trapped in quantum wells.
- RNA Plays Meiotic Matchmaker
RNA plays a role in homologous chromosome pairing during meiosis.
- The Ice Age Carbon Puzzle
A carbon isotope record helps to explain why carbon dioxide concentrations change during ice age cycles.
Reports
- Dawn at Vesta: Testing the Protoplanetary Paradigm
Spacecraft data provide a detailed characterization of the second most massive asteroid in the solar system.
- Vesta’s Shape and Morphology
Spacecraft data provide a detailed characterization of the second most massive asteroid in the solar system.
- The Violent Collisional History of Asteroid 4 Vesta
Spacecraft data provide a detailed characterization of the second most massive asteroid in the solar system.
- The Geologically Recent Giant Impact Basins at Vesta’s South Pole
Spacecraft data provide a detailed characterization of the second most massive asteroid in the solar system.
- Spectroscopic Characterization of Mineralogy and Its Diversity Across Vesta
Spacecraft data provide a detailed characterization of the second most massive asteroid in the solar system.
- Color and Albedo Heterogeneity of Vesta from Dawn
Spacecraft data provide a detailed characterization of the second most massive asteroid in the solar system.
- Coupling Quantum Tunneling with Cavity Photons
Optical coupling is used to control the tunneling of electrons between a pair of quantum wells.
- Under the Hood of the Earthquake Machine: Toward Predictive Modeling of the Seismic Cycle
Computational models predict the long-term recurrence of earthquakes along a segment of the San Andreas Fault.
- Carbon Isotope Constraints on the Deglacial CO2 Rise from Ice Cores
The stable isotopic composition of the carbon in carbon dioxide over the last 24,000 years illuminates past carbon cycle behavior.
- Ancient Maya Astronomical Tables from Xultun, Guatemala
Wall paintings in a Mayan temple dating to the 9th century C.E. show calculations of Moon and, perhaps, planetary motion.
- A Stem Cell–Based Approach to Cartilage Repair
A chemical screen using mesenchymal stem cells identifies a small molecule, kartogenin, that can promote chondrogenesis.
- Differential Diffusivity of Nodal and Lefty Underlies a Reaction-Diffusion Patterning System
The inhibitor Lefty diffuses more widely than the activator Nodal.
- Mechanical Control of Morphogenesis by Fat/Dachsous/Four-Jointed Planar Cell Polarity Pathway
Polarized proto-cadherin and myosin induce an anisotropic tension at cell junctions and thereby shape epithelial tissue.
- Structural Basis for DNA Damage–Dependent Poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation by Human PARP-1
An enzyme that binds to damaged DNA undergoes a structural reorganization that enhances its catalytic activity.
- Meiosis-Specific Noncoding RNA Mediates Robust Pairing of Homologous Chromosomes in Meiosis
An RNA transcript helps to bring together homologous chromosomes during cell division.
- Epigenomic Enhancer Profiling Defines a Signature of Colon Cancer
Methylation tags at long-distance gene regulatory elements provide a signature specific to cancer cells.
- Recent Explosive Human Population Growth Has Resulted in an Excess of Rare Genetic Variants
Genetic models that incorporate recent human population growth can better identify mutations in large samples.
- Transcription-Independent Function of Polycomb Group Protein PSC in Cell Cycle Control
A Polycomb group protein regulates the cell cycle by promoting cyclin B ubiquitylation and degradation.
From the AAAS Office of Publishing and Member Services
